Thousand Pound Bend

I probably shouldn’t give this place too much of a hard rap based on the one bad experience that I’ve had here, though I know a lot of other people would do just that. I’ve actually been coming here on and off for quite a while and I have to say that I really love the atmosphere of the place. Their coffee is pretty good and the décor is just so, well, hip. However the one morning I came here to have some breakfast was the morning when they forgot my tea and gave me what turned out to be an overcooked onsie (one bacon rasher, one egg, and one slice of sourbread). Still, that was only one time, and I have to say that I do really like the place, especially since they had the renovations. Mind you it does get pretty crowded, especially at lunchtime, so you do have to time yourself a bit.

After the recent renovation thousand pound is looking better than ever. Slice girls pizza is now inside the front bar, they still have a full kitchen menu too. Upstairs is a new hidden bar open only on certain nights (check with the staff) and the back event space is often open on busy weekends for extra seating and a place for uni students and freelancers to work on the free wifi.
Coffee is decent, the bar is well stocked with local beers and the staff are cool. It’s more of a bar than a café but still good during the day (and busy with drinkers at night). The crowd is usually hipster, laid back and friendly. I would recommend it if you have a bunch of mates and like to stand up to drink, if your here and looking for a seat at night it’s not always the easiest. Good place!

The atmosphere was a cool dive bar but the service was beyond slow. It took an HOUR to get my scrambled eggs and toast. This is not a hard meal to make and the restaurant was not full. And granted, I did not get anything fancy but this meal was not memorable at all. An overall disappointment for brunch.

One of the few Melbourne coffee shops that stay open late. There is a good selection of savoury food like breakfast or quick dishes like pizza and burgers. And if you desire something alcoholic instead of caffeinated, they carry beer and wine, too. The only thing that I dislike is the noise level makes it hard to hear the person in front of you sometimes. But it’s a nice place to grab a coffee and do some freelance work.

This is a cute little find down a laneway on the way back to our hotel. We just stopped for a drink and they had a great selection and reasonable prices ($ 10 for a large glass of wine).
I can’t review the food, but the menu had things like burgers and pizza, plus they had a separate breakfast menu too. All very trendy and a good spot to hang out.

One of my favourite places to while away an afternoon. Staff are laid back. Tasty coffee. Cheap beer

Went here for breakfast on Saturday — they were crazy busy and were turning people away. The staff are friendly (our server told us she was on a trial) and they let us be reseated away from the door, which you should note remains open whenever they are. Expensive for the quality of the food, (eggs Florentine a whopping $ 17.50) and it wasn’t warm when it finally arrived. My friends order got mucked up, but that’s ok as they gave us a free round of lattes!

Food was slow and not very high quality this Sunday morning — hopefully just an anomaly!

WOAH I think this place may be WAY too hipster for even me! I mean I’m all for the warehouse movement thing happening with spaces and places, but this was a little too much for me.
Don’t get me wrong, the vibe was super chill and had a few folk around either lounging about or propping up the bar with schooners of some of that amber, gold and black if that’s your thing, but I just had an itching to get in, grab a coffee and get out — it may have been the construction that was happening in the room behind the barista (I’m not entirely sure it was a construction site or if it was part of the café??).
I was half expecting single origin in a place like this but their coffee preference was Will & Co — despite this, Mr Barista poured a good cup of brew for my shattered body.

I think this is more of a place to hang out and drink a coffee or a beer for half an hour or so than it is to actually linger over a meal. The vibe here is just a little weird — it’s an awfully hipster place, with the décor leaning heavily to «yard sale theme» — a mishmash of random photos and items hung up as art on the walls, uncoordinated paint jobs, bare scraped floors, weird lighting, prison-​cell barred windows, and tables and chairs and booths that were probably picked up from the side of the road for free and vigorously de-flea’d before use. Normally, I don’t mind this sort of thing, because it can actually turn out to be super cozy and charming — but in this case, the hipsterism erred too much on the side of «derelict» and I left there feeling vaguely like a homeless person.
The food was actually pretty decent — I had the vegan burger, which is described as a «chickpea and kale patty with harissa vegan mayonnaise, rocket, eggplant, spiced tomato, white onion and olives in a vegan bun.» It’s great to have a clearly-​marked vegan option on the menu at all, let alone a decent-​tasting one, so in terms of food I was a happy camper.
The main reason I’m down-​voting this place is because the service was absolutely appalling. Nobody who worked there seemed to have any idea what was going on. Our table was brought some other table’s food — TWICE. This was the lunch hour so it was busy, but still. Also, the vegan burger took about 20 minutes to arrive after everyone else’s food. As a vegan, I’m used to my food taking forever and going astray, so it didn’t bother me too much, but when my friends flagged down a waiter to ask where the vegan burger was, he was flippant and dismissive, kind of shrugged and walked off — and crappy attitude DOES bother me. So the service gets a definite mark-​down.
So, yeah. Not my top pick of vegan burgers in Melbourne, but it’s a worthy option if you’re in the area and don’t mind overly hipster places with dismissive staff.

This place epitomises hipster Melbourne better than any other. Well, in my opinion it does…
Café by day. Bar by night. I have only sampled the daytime offerings.
The coffee — great. Bonsoy is in use, of course. The food — it’s everything a hot breakfast should be in my book. Recently I scoffed down the eggs benedict. The hollandaise possessed a great balance of acidity and creaminess. The poached eggs were done perfectly. And the use of pancetta instead of ham — why doesn’t every place do that? Yum.

Hipster coffee joint by day and hipster bar by night. It often has an event going on in the back– an art show or market. Cosy mismatched furniture and moody lighting set the scene. The food is pretty good. Definitely worth checking out.

We had a work Christmas function here, and it was a great pick. Cool warehouse space (if a little unassuming) downstairs, and a cosier bar upstairs, and super-​friendly staff who helped make the night a smashing success. Can’t comment on the food, as they had brought in food trucks into the function room (such is its size) for the party, but look forward to changing that soon.

Great place, gross bagels.
I can’t take a picture of my breakfast because I’ve given up on mobile technology, but if I could, you would find a half eaten bagel with mushroom stained avocado and a unruly egg yolk splashed about the table. My bagel was like a confused adolescent, screaming acceptance but not quite able to piece itself together. The tasteless mushroom was larger than the outfit, the avocado clashed with the sweet tomato relish which in turn fought with the ‘tasty’ cheese and cream cheese. I did, however, enjoy the fried egg that I extracted from my upset friend even though it made my fingers sticky and therefore difficult for me to type and eat. Oh, what a difficult life I lead, I know. Look, I just wanted someone to know about this bagel and hopefully let 1000 Bend know that sometimes less is more.
Aside from the bagel, I loved the coffee and the set-​up of the café. There’s a large area in a warehouse portion for meetings and freelance work while the main dining area is spacious with some comfy seats. After walking around in the rain all morning (on purpose) it was the perfect spot in the city to put my feet up and get some work done (also known as procrastinate on FB and Unilocal). Also, the staff was pretty ok, especially this one girl who gave me a genuine smile. I like genuine smiles, especially on rainy days.
Not extremely kid friendly though I might bring my one-​year old in there one day to annoy the young hip kids… as long as they stop abusing bagels. I’m sure the rest of the food is grand. Check it.

Alas my first experience here doesn’t warrant a great review. I was encouraged by other reviews and perhaps the hipster vibe is something that they think will forgive things like forgetting you and your order entirely… could have been 3 or even 4 stars otherwise. I even tried to click 3 stars, but when it said «A-​OK» I just couldn’t do it.
I was engrossed in doing something, so hadn’t noticed that my food and coffee hadn’t arrived for over 30mins. It took another 9 minutes for the coffee (rushed, not quite hot enough) once I went up to the counter, and 10 minutes for the food.
The coffee is unremarkable — nothing to distinguish it. But sometimes a standard coffee (I had a skim latte) is what you need.
The food is tasty (I had the smashed avocado and an egg –the egg is treated as a side, sitting on the edge of the plate where it goes cold very quickly), serving size on the small side of ok — trying to be hip?
I’ll probably give them another chance as I live near-​by, but the hipster image can’t be allowed to carry through to huge gaps in service like forgetting a customer. I’d suspect that their manual system would lead to this more regularly — you tell them where you are sitting and they seem to get the food there, but don’t move tables whatever you do!
That said, the Wi-​Fi is good, although you need a code from the counter for it to work.
Staff are friendly, but a few walk around in a daze and there are seemingly lots of them, then all of a sudden none — it’s divided into two sections. I did get a small apology when my coffee was delivered, but no real follow-​up so far (yep, she’s walked past twice and had the chance — no follow-​up). I’d have given an extra star if they’d made the effort to check on me and my food after serving. Guy who just took my plates didn’t ask either. So many missed opportunities to engage with a customer who they’ve started poorly with.
Assuming you are served well, it still isn’t perfect here, but the ambience created by the surroundings, music and the decent wi-​fi is welcoming and means it is easy to spend time here. Particularly on a day, like today, when I’m not well and ventured out to find a decent bite and coffee.
Oh, and don’t think you’ll get a coffee here of an evening — only alcohol or water. Hipsters…

Good coffee. Good cake.
There isn’t a whole heap more to say other then that. For a mid-​morning visit I was surprised at the lack of lighting. It was 10am not 10pm.
The staff looked a bit dazed and confused when asking me what table I would be at. Even more so when I asked what cakes/​muffins were on offer today. In saying that my latte turned up and my carrot cake was delicious.
I could see the potential of the space and staff but in the end all I walked out with was torn stockings.

Great place! Thousand pound bend! It has it all for a café! Such a great atmosphere here! Cosy, good coffee, good food, free wi to! And big warehouse out back where artist markets are normally held! Just great.
Recently I attended here for the Intrepid Vietnam Travel! This was a great event filled with food beer and great convocation! It was located on the first floor above the café it a little boutique room!
Very cosy, see photos attached about it!
The food that gets served here is great to, such good quality that gets produced from such a small kitchen! Staff are always fun and bubbly and don’t mine you lazing in the café all day with your lappy getting work done. A really cool vibe!
I highly recommend a must visit for anyone that hasn’t been, on first visit might be a little intimidating, but trust me give it time and you’ll feel warm and welcome in no time :-)

Lovely coffee, good selection of brunch options, and essentially just a great, convenient meeting spot in the city!
1000 £ bend is one of my go-​to CBD brunch/​coffee spots. Usually not too crazy busy, but a fantastic space for hangover meals, meetings, or spending a few hours studying in a cool space. The gallery i s pretty incredible, and makes for a sweet event space if you’re looking for something like that!
Breakfast bagel is delish, as is the corn fritters and quesadillas. YUM.

Melbourne is blessed with hidden gems, a turn here, and turn there, and you can easily stumble onto the next hipster hangout. Brilliant! Thousand Pound Bend is one such place. Located on the corner of Little Lonsdale st, just as you turn in from Elizabeth, it is such an impressive café, and hangout spot. Its owned by the same people who owned the iconic St Jerome’s Laneway bar (which closed down), and you can see remnants of that time in the café.
The «café» part of the venue, is mid-​sized, with the 70s/​80s décor and foosball table in the centre giving it its hipster vibe. Out the back is this massive space, with makeshift tables, and kegs for seats, as well as a big ping pong table in the middle. I was curious to know what else they used this space for, as it did look like there was bar there too.
I was there for breakfast, which runs until 3pm. I ordered the Breakfast Bagel, which is fried egg, with bacon, avocado, tasty cheese, and relish. I remember feeling and thinking, like this was such an awesome spot, that I had discovered. There’s a mixture of students and young professionals going about their work, (there’s free wi-​fi), and a blackboard near the entrance, detailing the upcoming St Jerome’s laneway festival, got me wondering whether the owners actually started that festival.
Breakfast Bagel arrived, and it was delicious. The Bagel was perfect, (not hard), and all in all, for $ 12, a hearty meal. The short black espresso I had was okay, a little bitter, but good enough for me, who needed a caffeine boost.
The staff were friendly, and overall, I left feeling like this is another spot to have to come back to, next time I am in Melbourne. Perhaps for evening drinks. Thousand Pound Bend appears to be a really cool space for hanging out with your friends, catching up on your assignment, or for after work beverages. There’s enough space out the back for some live music too, so that would be a bonus!
You Melbournites are very lucky indeed.

This place has all the good attributes of what a café should be — nice atmosphere/​decorations, good coffee, alcohol, great opening hours (early to late), power outlets, and free decent speed wifi.
This place also has a huge space at the back (see one of my photos) which you can use for large groups.
I don’t think I can mention anything else which I can fault them on but it really delivers on what I was looking for at the time.